1. Field of the Invention
This invention is generally directed to swatters and similar devices for killing flying insects such as house flies and particularly to an insect swatter which has a plurality of generally blunted hook-like projections extending from at least one face thereof. The projections are closely spaced and serve to engage or entangle and lock with hair-like portions of swatted insects to thereby retain the dead insects adjacent to the body of the swatter in such a manner that the dead insects may be cleanly and easily released from the swatter.
2. History of the Prior Art
There have been many variations proposed for improving the usefulness of conventional fly swatters and the like. Many improvements have been made in making conventional fly swatters more durable and yet more inexpensive to manufacturers. Other improvements or alterations in structure have been made to increase the overall efficiency of fly swatters in killing flying or crawling insects.
In various environments, such as in commercial restaurants, kitchens and the like, it is important, for sanitary reasons, to provide some means to insure that swatted insects or bugs are retained on the swatter after they have been struck. Various designs or special configurations have been proposed for enabling fly swatters to be used to both kill and capture or retain insects. Many of these prior structures, however, are not satisfactory from a sanitary point of view as they are designed to not only capture insects but positively impale the insects using point shafts, hooks and/or barbs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,891,347 to Swint, a fly swatter is disclosed having arrow-shaped protrusions extending therefrom. The protrusions include hooked or barbed members which serve to trap insects between the protrusions and the face or body of the fly swatter. Some of the problems associated with the design are discusssed in U. S. Pat. No. 3,798,828 to Walti et al. These problems include the removal of a dead insect from the barbs which impale the insect. Fly swatters which impale insects create additional sanitary problems because blood and/or portions of insects not only may be smeared on the surface where the insects are initially struck but may also be deposited on the face of such flyswatter.
In the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,798,828, a fly swatter is disclosed which includes a plurality of tapered projections which extend from the face thereof. The projections are not barbed but are designed to impale insects in such a manner that the insects may be easily removed from the projections.
In order to avoid the problems and disadvantages inherent in the use of fly swatters which utilize impaling protrusions to retain or hold swatted insects, other non-penetrating fly swatter structures have been designed. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,937 to Hamilton, a fly swatter is disclosed which has a striking surface covered with a layer of material which is capable of holding an electrostatic charge. In the use of this type of fly swatter, it is theorized that an electrostatic charge may be applied to the material which charge would be sufficient to cause flies and other insects to adhere thereto. The proper functioning of such a structure is variable depending upon such conditions as the amount of charge applied, how and when the charge is applied, and the atmospheric conditions including moisture or humidity in the area in which the fly swatter is to be used.
Other examples of prior art devices for capturing flies and other insects include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,931,126 to Schuler and 4,502,243 to Spindler.